Labour Brexit policies 'are the many not the few', jibes Theresa May at PMQs

Written by David Singleton on 9 January 2019 in Diary

Diary

Watch: The PM enjoyed running through Jeremy Corbyn's various takes on Brexit.

It’s fair to say that the first Prime Minister’s Questions of 2019 was not exactly a classic of the genre. Jeremy Corbyn stuck to Brexit but he failed to land a serious blow on the prime minister and struggled to get his own MPs cheering loudly when he resorted to asking for a general election. For her part, Theresa May once again failed to rule out a no deal Brexit or say anything else of any significance.

“Corbyn did an effective job of highlighting the weaknesses in May’s Brexit stance, but they were scrappy, low-grade exchanges, and there was more than a touch of Groundhog Day about the whole thing,” wrote The Guardian’s Andrew Sparrow.

“Today of all days, Corbyn yet again all over the place,” was the more scathing verdict of The Sun’s political editor Tom Newton Dunn. “Should have spent all 6 Qs making the PM squirm on zero progress on backstop, but opted instead for YouTube clips after Q2. Wasted a potentially massive moment.”

Of course, Conservative MPs didn’t have much to cheer about either. But at least their leader entertained the troops when explaining the mysterious nature of Labour's Brexit stance to the House:

“He’s been for and against free movement. He’s been for and against the customs union. He’s been for an against an independent trade policy.

“He was a eurosceptic, now he’s pro the EU. He wanted to trigger Article 50 on day one, now he wants to delay it. He didn’t want money spent on no deal, now he says it’s not enough.

“The one thing we know about the honourable gentleman is his Brexit policies are the many not the few.”